10/26/2021 – Ephemeris – The bright star Capella is slowly ascending in the northeastern sky

This is Ephemeris for Tuesday, October 26th. Today the Sun will be up for 10 hours and 26 minutes, setting at 6:39, and it will rise tomorrow at 8:14. The Moon, 2 days before last quarter, will rise at 10:29 this evening.

The bright star that’s been hanging out fairly low in the northeastern sky in the evening lately is Capella, sometimes called the Goat Star. It’s at the top of a rather oddly shaped pentagon of stars that make up the constellation Auriga, the charioteer. A small, thin triangle of stars to Capella’s right is called the Kids*. Her kids. I’m not sure what a fellow is doing holding 4 goats while driving a chariot. Maybe that’s how he ended up in the sky. Capella itself consists of two yellow giant stars, about the same temperature as the Sun, but much larger. Capella is circumpolar for most of northern Michigan, meaning it never sets. It gets pretty low in the north on summer evenings.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EDT, UT – 4 hours). They may be different for your location.

* I’ve always known them as the Kids. Stellarium calls them the Goatlings.

Addendum

Capella and Auriga, low in the northeastern sky. I left the Kids unannotated, but they are easy to find near Capella. An animation created using Stellarium and GIMP.